In semiconductor integrated circuits (IC), a metal resistor (RM resistor) may be formed as a planar metal resistor generally patterned during a middle-of-the-line (MOL) process, either above a trench silicide (TS) or above a diffusion contact (CA) layer. In such topography, subsequent patterning and etching processes may be difficult to achieve. In addition, the planar metal resistor can consume a significant amount of chip area, e.g., 100 nanometers (nm) in width and multiples of 100 nm in length.